<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 3:16 - 3:19</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.
		</p>
		<p>
			And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
		</p>
		<p>
			For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
		</p>
		<p>
			For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Even innocent children aren't good enough to meet the standard.
	That shows you just how unreasonable the standard is.
	No just being would claim condemning people who fail to meet such a standard to be just, yet here, we're outright told that it's somehow just.
	Not believing in a being that there's absoluely zero evidence of also isn't a crime worthy of any sort of punishment, but here, we're also told that if you're older than an infant, you have to believe to be saved, no matter how good of a person you are.
	It just isn't good enough.
	And even if you do, it still isn't <strong>*quite*</strong> good enough.
	You still have to be punished, or rather, you would if your god, Jesus, wasn't punishing himself in your place.
	It's claimed that you're an enemy of Jesus by your very nature, which is quite an unfair assessment.
	Rather, Jesus is the main enemy of humankind, demanding that they not be themselves, but instead submit to his will.
	Often times, his will amounts to nothing more than his personal preferences and whims too, not actual valid stuff that should be done for the benefit of all.
	For example, none of his homophobic commandments have any validity to them.
	His commandments about killing a man that lies with another man are outright evil, as is his decree that disobedient children should be stoned to death.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 3:20 - 3:24</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
		</p>
		<p>
			And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent.
		</p>
		<p>
			And even at this time, when thou shalt have taught thy people the things which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, even then are they found no more blameless in the sight of God, only according to the words which I have spoken unto thee.
		</p>
		<p>
			And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath commanded me.
		</p>
		<p>
			And thus saith the Lord:
			They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Here, it's first claimed that your innocence ends once you've been taught of Jesus and his laws.
	However, after that, it's stated that the people hearing these words during the great gathering in which they were said by King Benjamin are no longer blameless.
	Just by hearing the words, even if those words were not believed, their defence of ignorance is gone.
	What this tells us is that upon hearing the &quot;good news&quot; of Jesus, even if you're not convinced due to a complete lack of evidence of its validity whatsoever, you're now found guilty.
	If you're told, even if you're not taught, you're now found guilty.
	No just or fair entity would think that this is at all okay.
	Either Jesus doesn't actually behave this way or Jesus is an evil god.
	There are no other options.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 3:25 - 3:27</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls.
		</p>
		<p>
			Therefore, they have drunk out of the cup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them than it could deny that Adam should fall because of his partaking of the forbidden fruit; therefore, mercy could have claim on them no more forever.
		</p>
		<p>
			And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever.
			Thus hath the Lord commanded me.
			Amen.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Okay, I see now where the Mormons get their idea that hell is just a state of mind.
	These passages seem to suggest that fire and brimstone are merely a metaphor, that the actual torment is one's own everlasting guilt, and that the separation from Elohim is only because the guilty shirk away from him by their own choice, out of embarrassment and similar feelings.
	Would you honestly feel guilty for eternity for crimes you committed a finite number of times?
	I'd hope not.
	An even if you did, how would Jesus being punished on your behalf help?
	Personally, that'd make me feel <strong>*more*</strong> guilty, as I'd caused someone else great pain needlessly.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:2</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.
			And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying:
			O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Humans are worth less than dust to their god.
	It's no wonder we can be thrown away for something as petty as simply not believing something there's absolutely zero evidence of.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:5</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state-
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	In fact, humans are outright worthless to their god.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:6 - 4:</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body-
		</p>
		<p>
			I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
		</p>
		<p>
			And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.
		</p>
		<p>
			Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
		</p>
		<p>
			And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	These passages pretty much tell you to do what you're told or you won't be saved.
	And to make matters worse, there's no actual evidence outside this storybook that the one supposedly telling you these things isn't just imaginary.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:11</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Here, we're called unworthy again.
	Unworthy means we're not worth it.
	We don't deserve it.
	If we don't deserve love and salvation, why is our god even offering it?
	This is too, supposedly, a god who loves justice.
	If we're not worthy of salvation, justice says we shouldn't have it.
	This doesn't add up.
	It sounds like we <strong>*are*</strong> worthy, and that it's our god that's unworthy of <strong>*us*</strong>.
	He wants to bend us into submission.
	We seem to actually be worth his efforts though, meaning that we are very much worthy.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:19</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			For behold, are we not all beggars?
			Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Um.
	I guess?
	The godhead gives us the things we depend on.
	However, have you ever stopped to think about the that that they also gave us our needs in the first place?
	We were built to depend on that which they give us.
	We don't owe them for giving us things they specifically created us to need.
	They shouldn't've created us to be so needy.
	Or even better, they shouldn't have crated us at all.
	There was no good reason for that.
	From the looks of it, we were created the way we were because Elohim wanted someone to bow down to him.
	We were created for selfish reasons, not for our own good, and we owe nothing in return.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:21</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	The lesson intended here is that we should give to and help one another.
	That's a good lesson.
	But look at the foundation the lesson is built on.
	It assumes a god that'll give you whatever you like as long as you don't ask for terrible things and you believe your god will grant your requests.
	There is of course no evidence for said god, and if you don't believe, then you won't get what yo ask for.
	That leaves rational people high and dry.
	So believers should certainly give away everything to beggars because they know they can get it replaced just by asking for it.
	However, us non-believers are living on a finite means, and thus can't afford to give to beggars most of the time.
</p>
<p>
	Also, if believers honestly believed, they'd be a lot more charitable than they actually are.
	The fact that they don't give everything away shows that they're either terrible people or, more likely, they know they can't honestly get it all back by praying.
	In other words, believers only partly believe.
	They don't truly believe.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:22</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Oh, snap.
	Jesus (or maybe Elohim?) is gonna' condemn you if you don't give away your stuff to help beggars.
	If you're a true believer, you'd better get to givin' and prayin' for replacement stuff to also give away right now.
</p>
<p>
	Also, you belong to your god.
	You're just property, not your own person.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 4:30</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Yeah.
	Better watch your thoughts.
	Your god is a firm believer in thought crimes.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 5:2</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And they all cried with one voice, saying:
			Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	And why is the Holy Spirit changing this crowd like this, but not changing everyone else?
	What is inherently different with this crowd that doesn't apply to the rest of the world, and even the modern day?
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 5:5</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Do what your god wants, or face his wrath.
	You have no freedom, and exist to serve him.
	Fail to do what he says and you'll face never-ending torment.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 5:5 - 5:8</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.
		</p>
		<p>
			And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them:
			Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant.
		</p>
		<p>
			And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
		</p>
		<p>
			And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free.
			There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Freedom sometimes involves working together, which means it sometimes involves doing what others say.
	However, it <strong>*doesn't*</strong> involve pledging to follow all the commands of some individual.
	In fact, that's pretty much the opposite of freedom.
	It's a pledge of eternal servitude; a pledge of eternal slavery.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 7:15</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, and are taxed with a tax which is grievous to be borne.
			And now, behold, our brethren will deliver us out of our bondage, or out of the hands of the Lamanites, and we will be their slaves; for it is better that we be slaves to the Nephites than to pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Um.
	Huh.
	I didn't expect the Book of Mormon to come right out and say it, but here, it's said that there is a fate worse than the loss of one's freedom.
	I'm not sure who this group is, but their king is offering them (himself included) up to the Nephites to be slaves because he feels the Nephites will treat them better even as slaves than the Lamanites do as subjects.
	(As a side note, it seems their king isn't the one ruling over them?
	I'm not sure what exactly the story is here.)
</p>
<p>
	But yeah.
	While I'm not sure it's intended to be, it's a reflection of how the book tells us to pledge our eternal servitude to our god.
	Eternal servitude isn't the worst option, the book claims, but rather, the best.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 7:21 - 7:23</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about-
		</p>
		<p>
			And all this he did, for the sole purpose of bringing this people into subjection or into bondage.
			And behold, we at this time do pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives.
		</p>
		<p>
			And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to mourn.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Um.
	What?
	This is what plagues these people.
	They're got to give up half their stuff.
	Surely, this makes life incredibly difficult.
	I don't doubt that.
	In the old days, making double what you need to survive could often be impossible.
	But it's only the land that the Lamenites own, not the people.
	All they've got to do is leave.
	Yes, uprooting their lives is no simple matter, but neither is making double what they need to get by.
	And now, rather than move, they're offering themselves into slavery.
	Wow.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 8:12 - 8:</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And I say unto thee again: Knowest thou of any one that can translate?
			For I am desirous that these records should be translated into our language; for, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction.
		</p>
		<p>
			Now Ammon said unto him:
			I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God.
			And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish.
			And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
		</p>
		<p>
			And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.
		</p>
		<p>
			And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet.
		</p>
		<p>
			And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.
		</p>
		<p>
			But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Okay.
	There's a little bit to unpack here.
	First, I'd like to point out that it's said that seers are also by definition also prophets and revelators.
	That means that when the church calls the fifteen highest-ranking church leaders seers, prophets, and revelators, they're being redundant.
	Simply calling them seers will suffice.
</p>
<p>
	More importantly though, seers are in the business of translating old texts.
	I mean, that's not their only function, but they can do it.
	That means that anyone not capable of such a feat isn't a seer.
	Either the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Apostles can translate old works by the power of the godhead or they're not actually seers.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 10:4 - 10:5</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And I did cause that the men should till the ground, and raise all manner of grain and all manner of fruit of every kind.
		</p>
		<p>
			And I did cause that the women should spin, and toil, and work, and work all manner of fine linen, yea, and cloth of every kind, that we might clothe our nakedness; and thus we did prosper in the land—thus we did have continual peace in the land for the space of twenty and two years.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	This segregated labour is probably one of the least-significant instances of sexism in the book, but still, it needs to me included in the full breakdown of what's wrong with the Book of Mormon.
</p>
<div class="cited-quotation">
	<cite>Mosiah 10:9</cite>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			And it came to pass that I caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness; and I also caused that all my old men that could bear arms, and also all my young men that were able to bear arms, should gather themselves together to go to battle against the Lamanites; and I did place them in their ranks, every man according to his age.
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</div>
<p>
	Again, sexism.
	Women are capable of fighting too.
	We even have women in the military these days.
	I get it, it was a different time, but this still backs up the sexism in the church, due to it being in one of their holy books, and that's not okay.
</p>


(Continue at Mosiah 11.)
